Rocket Internet’s New Startup ZipJet Will Do Your Laundry

Elena Rueckert3 November 2014

ZipJet, a new startup from Rocket Internet, launches in London today. The startup founded by Damian Kastil and Marco Sperling promises to pick up your dirty laundry and return it clean to you wherever and whenever. Service orders are made via its Android and iOS app, and the process from dirty to clean clothing should take 24 hours or less.

Kastil and Sperling, both former consultants, met in San Francisco in 2013. Kastil noticed how laundry delivery services such as Washio were thriving in the U.S. They landed on ZipJet’s business model as an attractive opportunity for a similar company in Europe. “We thought that there are so many services that bring things to our doorstep. Why can’t there be a business that is doing the same for dry cleaning?” asks Sperling.

Though there are other services such as Zoots and Laundry Republic that want to offer Londoners a simpler way of doing laundry, Kastil claims that no one has tackled this space in such a professional way so far. After taking a glance through alternative options, it looks like ZipJet certainly has simplicity in design and usability on its side. “We developed an app for Android and for iOS that we think is really beautiful,” says Kastil.

As the founders of ZipJet chose Rocket due to the incubator’s experience in scaling and logistics, it was natural to inquire into the startup’s expansion plans. Sperling responded that the focus will be on London for now, since “there is still so much room to grow” there.

On the overall vision for ZipJet, Sperling responded with: “My vision would be that there is no need for people to have a washing machine in their home anymore, because we bring them superior quality in this area at lower prices.” For now, we will wait to see how Rocket’s new venture catches on in London.